


A Flicker in the Darkness

by BarPurple



Series: BarPurple's House of Horror 2017 [8]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Wish!Verse, Angst, F/M, Hopeful Ending, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 20:10:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12349818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: Three hundred years of planning ruined because of a well placed arrow.





	A Flicker in the Darkness

Rumplestiltskin had howled in rage when Snow White and her shepherd prince stood before his cage and announced their victory over the Evil Queen. The royals had fled from his impotent temper leaving him in the gloom with only the rats to listen to his furious ravings. The rodents weren’t as good an audience as the scared queen and king; they did not cringe in fear, or cower in dread. 

Rumple laughed bitterly at his grandiose thoughts, no one feared him anymore, and why should they? He was stuck inside a cage that he’d walked into willing, his magic suppressed to near nothing by bloody fairy dust, his carefully laid plans in tatters because the pure of heart Snow White had a rare attack of backbone and had killed her step-mother.

Rumple screamed more in frustration than rage, there wasn’t even anything to break in here! The rats scattered when he lunged for them, far too sensible to be caught and rent by his claws.

With limited outlets his rage subsided quickly. The rats eyed him warily from the corners as he dropped to sit cross legged on the floor, only the little brown one dared to approach him. Her blue eyes twinkled in the weak light. She gave a series of sharp squeaks that made Rumple hiss at her annoyed chastisement.

“I am sorry. I’m being a petulant child, but three centuries of work ruined because of one arrow in Regina’s heart. If she’d followed her mother’s example I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

She twitched her tail and cleaned her whiskers, Rumple grinned at her question.

“I would be a very foolish imp to place all of my plans on Regina’s shoulders. There are other ways to get what I want, but it will take time.”

Rumple leaded back against the wall to think. The little brown rat crawled into his lap and nudged at his hand until he began to absently stroke her fur. In the gloom he grinned to himself; the Dark Curse would be cast; he would be reunited with his son; he just had to be patient.

Patience came easily to Rumple, he’d waited three hundred years and been willing to wait twenty-eight more to see his son, but patience was a virtue that could only be rewarded with disappointment for the Dark One.

He was hanging from the rafters when the rats scattered, hiding themselves in the cracks and nooks around his cell. Rumple heard the dungeon door creak open and was hit by the reek of fairy. The only fairy strong enough to overpower the perpetual stink of their magic that pervaded his cell was Reul Ghorm herself. Now why would the Blue bitch be visiting him? The sound of heavy boots suggested that either there had been a drastic shift in gnat fashions, or he was about to receive two guests. He waited until the splash of water told him they had crossed the puddle that stagnated ten feet from his cell before he unhooked his legs from the rafter letting himself tumble gracefully to the floor below.

The startled gasp from Blue was worth the stab of pain that shot through his ankle as he landed. He had access to just enough magic to stop his jailors needing to provide food or water on anything like a regular basis, but not quite enough to keep the ache from his crippling full at bay. No matter, offending Blue was worth a little discomfort. He turned slowly on the ball of his foot and glared at Blue.

“Tut, tut, tut. I must speak to the management. The dank I can cope with, but an infestation of gnats is intolerable.”

Blue gave him an annoyingly serene smile that was far too smug for his liking. His fingers itched with the desire to claw it from her face. He fought down the instinct and turned his attention to the man. He was tallish, dark haired and dressed like a pirate in a long leather coat. There was a sword slung at his hip and from his stance it wasn’t just for decoration. Rumple leaned closer, there was something familiar about this man’s face.

“Have we made a deal in the past, dearie?”

The man gave a mirthless laugh; “We did, but you didn’t keep your end of the bargain.”

Rumple lunged for the bars, and ignored the sting as his fingers gripped them tightly. Pressing his face into the gap he snarled at the man; “I am Rumplestiltskin. I do not break my deals.”

The man stepped closer, but stayed out of arm’s reach.

“You broke ours, Papa.”

The world shifted on its axis and Rumple staggered; “Bae?”

“Yeah, it’s me Papa. I found my way home from the Land without Magic after a couple of hundred years in Neverland.”

Someone was babbling the word no repeatedly. Rumple drew breath to tell them to shut up only to find it had been him speaking. Bae reached under his coat and tugged something free from his pocket. As he tossed it between the bars of the cell he said; “Grandfather asked me to return this to you.”

Rumple dragged his eyes away from Bae long enough to spare the object a glance. A corn dolly dressed in blue, the very same one that had given a monster his name.

“You always said you were a coward like your father, but you never mentioned that you became an evil bastard just like him as well.”

Rumple cringed at the venom in Bae’s voice. Words, his tool for so very long failed him, his stammered attempt to explain himself to his son easily silenced by the calm voice of the Blue Fairy.

“Thanks to the brave and valiant actions of Baelfire the demon Peter Pan is no more. Neverland is once again an idyllic realm for children to visit in their dreams.”

Rumple’s eye darted towards her, but his focus was on Bae once more when he said; “Please son, don’t trust any reward she offers you. You of all people know what a double edged sword her help is.”

In Bae’s shrug Rumple saw the echo of the boy he remembered, the harsh words that came from his son’s mouth cut through the fond memory like a knife; “Her help would have worked fine, if you hadn’t loved your power and magic more than you loved me.”

“Bae, I was scared, scared that without magic I wouldn’t be able to protect you. I’ve regretted the mistake the instant I let go of your hand. I’ve spent the last three hundred years trying to find a way back to you.”

It hurt his pride to confess fear in front of the Blue Fairy, but that wound was nothing compared to the look of disgust on his son’s face.

“Reul Ghorm told me of your plan, a curse that would tear the realm apart. Aren’t you drenched in enough darkness?”

“It was the only way to get back to you, son.”

“Don’t call me that. You are no father of mine. My father died the day he killed the last Dark One,” – He turned to face the Blue Fairy, - “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

Rumple’s hands scrabbled pointlessly at the bars of the cage as he tried to claw his way out to get to Bae.

“No! Please, whatever deal you have made with her don’t do it! Please!”

Bae didn’t even spare him a glance as the sparkling cloud of magic enveloped him. Rumple had to blinked away the bright spots that danced before his eyes before he could see what the Blue bitch had done to Bae. The fairy was human sized now and holding a wee babe with dark hair in her arms.

Tears were running freely down his scaled face as he came to terms with what had been done. Bae, his son was a child again, and there wasn’t a chance in hell that Blue was going to leave him here for Rumple to raise. This dank, cold cell was no place for a child, but he would have no part in Bae’s new childhood, none at all. He dropped to his knees under the weight of his defeat, and his hand brushed the corn dolly that had once brought him hope. He gripped it in shaking hand and offered it through the bars to Blue.

“Please, let him have it, so he has something of his Papa.”

Blue’s lip curled; “Most certainly not. I will give him not token that will let you track him. This child is to be raised by a good, loving family, well away from your evil taint.”

In a flurry of wings Blue left the broken beast to sob in the dark. The rats crept back in slowly, sensing his distress and uncertain of what to do. The small brown with the blue eyes was the first to reach him, she scrambled up his sleeve and nestled by his ear. Her claws scored tiny marks in the leather of his coat as he crawled to the corner of the cell. He lay there, his face turned to the wall, sobbing for the loss of his final spark of hope. The rats scurried closer, blanketing his shaking form with their little bodies.

Rumple lost all track of time as he lay there mourning. At some point he became aware that the rats were telling stories of a blue-eyed beauty who had been freed from the Evil Queen and was making her way to Snow White’s castle. He let himself believe it was Belle, darling, brave Belle, who died because of her association with him, died because of his cruelty, his cowardice. The stories eased his pain, let him drift in a pleasant dream world where Belle still lived and he still had a chance to earn Bae’s forgiveness.

When the rats told him someone was coming he grunted and tried to roll over to stay in his torpor, but they nipped at him until he hauled himself to his feet. He had no interest at all in whoever had come to pester him in his misery, but the rats wouldn’t let him be, best to get this over with as quickly as possible. A petite figure stepped into the meagre light and pulled back their hood. Rumple staggered forward, and cursed himself for a fool; this was not possible.

“Hello Rumple.”

“Belle?”


End file.
